


The Adventure in the Stars

by MrJoeJoe



Category: The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, F/M, M/M, Spaceships, not entirely tho, sort of like star wars/trek i guess, space adventures, space age
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-07 07:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7706014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrJoeJoe/pseuds/MrJoeJoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Space Age AU where Achilles and Patroclus go adventuring throughout the universe, having adventures and meeting new people.<br/>Their adventures are interrupted by a mysterious foe, however...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kind of just felt like doing this? The summary pretty much covers what this will be.   
> I'm English so some spellings/units of measurement (or similar) may be a bit weird, and I also haven't got a beta bc who needs betas? (probably me but ehhh) so there may be spelling mistakes or other errors such as funny sentences.  
> I will try not to make this like Star Wars/Trek but this being pretty Sci-Fi-ey means that that is inevitable. There won't be any wars, though (non-graphic: no nasty blood and stuff) battles will occur.  
> I have no intention of following Homer's Illiad or the story of the Song of Achilles - Only the characters are Madeline Miller's, the plot and characters not in TSoA are mine, as well as the world they're in.

**Chapter One**

Patroclus woke up on the morning of the 7th August 3016, blinking blearily as he sat up in bed and surveyed his small room, decorated sparsely with blue paint and posters of his favourite planets. Shelves lined one wall, bursting with books all about space and physics, all of which had been read several times by Patroclus’ rapturous eyes at 1am, by lamplight. The floor was quite impressively coated in clothes, with jeans and shirts forming tiny islands of carpet all the way round his bed, from his bedside table to his telescope which pointed out of the wide window occupying the wall opposite his door. Patroclus yawned, stretching as he rolled out of bed and put on some clothes from the floor, which created one more carpet-island like the ones he used to hop on to reach the door. He strolled through the hallway of his house nonchalantly to find Achilles, his best friend since childhood, sitting on a chair in his living room, studying the morning newspaper fastidiously. For a second Patroclus thought that Achilles actually cared about World News from his concentrated face, until he chucked the newspaper aside casually.

“How can these zookeepers be so useless that they don’t notice their own fucking octopus sneaking around their aquarium at night?” He asked, patting Patroclus on the shoulder as he walked by, going through to the kitchen. Patroclus gave the headline of the newspaper a quick look: CRAFTY OCTOPUS FOOLS THE ENTIRE ZOO STAFF FOR YEARS, and rolled his eyes as he understood Achilles question.

“Patroclus! Get over here dude!” Achilles called from the kitchen where he had seated himself with some toast and jam. Patroclus hurried through, sitting beside his friend but deciding not to take the other piece of toast on the table.

“Happy birthday by the way, before you think I forgot.” Achilles said offhandedly. Patroclus’ eyes snapped open.

“Oh my God. It’s my birthday!” He said. Achilles looked at him.

“Yes dummy. Did you not know?”

“Well, I suppose I wasn’t paying much attention if I’m honest.”

“Of course you weren’t. That’s why I subtly reminded you.” Achilles stated in his matter-of-fact voice which he had been using to talk down to Patroclus with for years.

The two were longtime friends, having met in their first years of primary school and having stayed together ever since, all the way to the present day, when both boys were now 18. They had shared most of their lives with each other, playing together, arguing together, laughing together. Sometimes Patroclus wondered whether being Achilles’ best friend was such a great idea though, with his arrogant persona and careless attitude which had got both of them into many fights. However, he had convinced himself that it was okay in the end, as Achilles’ incredible fitness and capability with many martial arts got both of them out of as many fights as his arrogance got them into. Patroclus often questioned whether he returned what Achilles gave him with his friendship too, as Patroclus could definitely not handle himself as well as Achilles, with his mild paranoia and nervousness in everything. Fortunately, Patroclus’ intelligence often aided Achilles in the many struggles and confusing matters he got himself into every day, (well, the struggles which didn’t involve literal struggling or fighting) and as such, the two got along well.

“Wait.” Said Patroclus, as he reconsidered the fact that it was indeed his birthday. “Does that mean we’re both 18?”

“Well, my dear Patroclus, when you’re 17 and have a birthday, you generally become 18, so yes, that statement is true.” Patroclus shot Achilles a dirty look but he couldn’t stop the grin which followed.

Once you turned 18, you were able to travel through space unaccompanied. Since they were children, Achilles and Patroclus had dreamt of roaming space in their own little spaceship, exploring planets and meeting new people. They had saved up for years, and this year Patroclus’ mother and Achilles’ father had agreed to put forward the rest of the money needed to buy them a ship. Today, they were going to embark on the journey of their lives, and though neither of them knew it, their experiences in space would shape the universe in incredible ways.

“The ship’s outside,” said Achilles, grinning, but Patroclus was already racing out the door, out onto the driveway, not caring that he had no socks because there it was! There was their ship! Theirs! No one else’s. They could go flying through space in it, infinitely soaring through sweet nothingness. He ran inside, picking up a suitcase which he chucked clothes into frantically, ignoring the thought that he should have done this yesterday when he was excited and attentive and ready to go.

In minutes he had packed the suitcase with clothes, hygienic equipment and all his various chargers, and was rushing out to Achilles and throwing his suitcase in the back of the ship and then he was turning to his mother, who had walked out the house in just her pyjamas, smiling at his delighted face and his unruly brown hair in his skinny jeans and his shirt and smiling at her son, who was going to leave her. Her son who was running away into the land of stars and nothingness, leaving her alone.

Not unlike her husband.

Patroclus’ father had left a long time ago, when Patroclus was around 10, blaming it on Patroclus because he didn’t want to do physical sports or train in weapons. Family life hadn’t been great anyway, with Menoetius and Patroclus’ mother growing apart and arguing as more time was spent working by Menoetius. There had been many an occasion where Patroclus had heard yelling then slaps and then the quiet sobs which followed, quietly past his closed door. He had heard the stern, hard steps of his father and the slamming of the front door and then nothing. After these nights, Patroclus’ father may not return for several days, in which his wife would flourish, and happiness would strike the household like lightning, brightening the sunlight and colouring even the grey wallpaper of Patroclus’ parent’s bedroom.

It was one of these nights that Menoetius finally left for good, the slamming of the door being final and abrupt, and oddly sad too. However, whether the slight sadness was no match for the happiness in the house afterwards which only increased when Menoetius never came back.

Neither Patroclus nor his mother could think of him at this time though, as Patroclus beamed and his mother already missed him and Achilles’ father was grinning and Achilles was just smirking at Patroclus’ enthusiasm.

“Mum, are you gonna cry?” He asked, giving her a little smile.

“No, of course not you twit,” she retorted, but the tears were already flowing as she kept smiling at her son. He walked over to her and stooped over as he gave her a hug, holding her tightly.

“I’ll be okay mum, alright? I’ll come visit sometime, y’know? I can always send letters home if you want,” Patroclus comforted the woman with his soft words and proud smile, leaning back and holding her shoulders.

“Yes of course you have to write. Make sure you wash, and don’t let Achilles do anything stupid, you hear me?” His mother sternly instructed Patroclus. Achilles’ smirk had turned into a salty expression as he narrowed his eyes.

“We both know I won’t be able to do that mum, but we also know that I’ll certainly try.”

“Guys, I’m right here and to be quite honest, you’re really hurting me. This is rude and I don’t think that I like either of your attitudes. Too soppy and gross. See, me and my father maintain a formal yet friendly relationship. None of this crying crap. Don’t we dad?” Achilles grumpily turned to his father, but he too was blinking away tears as he took a huge step to embrace his son in a bear hug.

“Oof.” Achilles had the wind knocked out of him. “Come on Dad, we’re supposed to be better than this! I look like an idiot now.”

“You love it really,” said Patroclus.

“You wouldn’t know that we’ve been friends for 14 years Patroclus, considering how often you misjudge my character,” said Achilles indignantly, struggling out of his father’s grasp. “Now! The grand tour!” He gestured to the ship, which was settled on three metal struts, taking up most of the drive.

It was a beautiful machine, roughly 8 or 9 metres long and perhaps 5 across, with 6 jets at the back, 2 large ones and four smaller ones, encased with gleaming black metal. Along the side of the ship, two silver metal bars contrasted with the white body, which would extend with beautiful crimson wings, made of sheet metal. The body of the ship was like a cuboid, tapering slightly into an edge from which the windscreen extended at an angle. The door was set just behind the cockpit, already open.

Achilles was saying something about the ship but Patroclus wasn’t listening as he stepped into the ship. A corridor ran down the centre of it, with two horizontal corridors by the door and by the engine at the back. Patroclus went into the cockpit first, taking a right from the first horizontal passage which led from the door. An array of controls were spread across the dashboard, with two seats for pilot and co-pilot, as well as two more at the back of the cockpit beside the controls in the walls and on the ceiling. He ventured out of the cockpit and down the central corridor, looking in doors as he went. Two bedrooms with two bunks attached to the wall were in each, and a window too, through which Achilles was telling their bored parents about the ship. Beyond that, the bedrooms had little besides a small table below the window and two bedside tables. Upon closer inspection Patroclus found little draws you could remove from the wall by tapping them.

There was one bathroom, with a shower, sink and toilet, further down the corridor. Opposite this was a room containing a small sofa, beanbags and even a little television on a table below the window this room also featured. Patroclus was impressed; they may actually be able to live in comfort here The rest of the corridor was occupied by cupboards and storage spaces, ending in the other horizontal passage and a door which led to the engine room, where blinking lights and a panel complete with touchscreen and details of the ship.

Patroclus grinned as he beheld his ship.

Achilles had also come aboard now and was grinning back.

“What do you think?”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“This is amazing,” exclaimed Patroclus. “We have our own living room!”

“I know right?” They looked at each other

“This is gonna be awesome isn’t it?” asked Patroclus.

“Yeah, this is kind of going to be amazing. The engine handles 5,000 times hyperjump capabilities, and has a top speed of around 1,000kph. The wings let us glide too, so we don’t always have to use the engines. We can hold around 5,000,000,000W in the batteries, allowing for around five days of constant engine use if we really need it. However, using the hyperdrive can take up half or more of the battery depending on how far we go. We have a locational system and a hologram display, not to mention the best bit.”

“What’s the best bit?” Asked Patroclus, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer. Achilles’ eyes lit up as he said it.

“Guns.” Patroclus rolled his eyes, but felt excitement rising within himself too.

“We have a machine gun on the top, a cannon on the bottom, and 2 machine guns on each wing, along with 4 guided missiles.” Patroclus’ eyes widened.

“That doesn’t sound so safe Achilles.”

“Nonsense! You’ll get used to it.”

Patroclus had a bad feeling about this, but he shook it off. He had felt bad about his exploits with Achilles before, but then Achilles had always pulled some smooth moves to get them out of any awkward situation, like the time he had chatted up the police officer after they set bangers off in the neighbour’s window, or the time he had convinced the owner of the market stall that he didn’t _really_ need those lava lamps.

It was shameful really.

Ignoring his (many) doubts, Patroclus made his way to the cockpit where he sat down in the pilot seat, with Achilles by his side, recalling spaceflight school with as much vividity as he could.

He fired up the engines.

Extended the wings.

Retracted the landing gear.

And he breathed in deeply.

He pushed the throttle forward.

_This is going to be on hell of an adventure._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was fun. Feel free to send me asks and criticise my blog at mrjoethejoe.tumblr.com (though I've been away recently so it's a little out of date :/).  
> I think that's everything? Idk, but thanks for reading and please feel free to review or do whatever the hell else you feel like doing.


	2. The Space Station

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Achilles and Patroclus go to a space station near the centre of the universe, where they meet a new companion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter, a week after the first. It looks like I'll be uploading weekly on Sundays for the most part. That's about it.

**Chapter Two**

They hurtled up into the air as Patroclus pushed the throttle forward, making the engines roar over Achilles’ whooping as their heads were pressed against the seats. The ship shot through the atmosphere at hundreds of kph, slowly leaving the gravitational field of Earth. As they began to leave the atmosphere, Patroclus glanced back at Earth, loosening his grip on the throttle as he beheld their planet down below, gleaming against the black of space. A ball of blue and green and tiny little mountains falling back as they accelerated into space. Achilles was looking back too, the blue reflecting in his eyes, and as Patroclus glanced over at him, his breath hitched.

He had been crushing on Achilles for a while now, almost without knowing he was doing so, but over the past few years Achilles’ jaw had hardened and his shoulders had broadened, turning him into an attractive man with a mane of silken blond hair which outlined his face, with his mirthful eyes and smooth nose all blending together to form an almost Godlike appearance.

Meanwhile, the engines were still roaring and they were still heading away from Earth as it grew smaller and smaller behind them. It was this moment which Achilles chose to make use of the speakers embedded throughout their ship as he slotted a CD into the panel beside him and hit play.

It took Patroclus a second to recognise the song, but then it came to him. He began to laugh along with Achilles as _Fly Me to the Moon_ played throughout the ship, serenading the pair into space.

“Unfortunately, our first stop is not the moon, you dick, but the Fourth Central Station.” Patroclus was referring to the Space Station which was suspended in one of the most central solar systems in the universe, and also the least popular due to its intense sun and proximity to it.

“Why are we going to Sunny Central?” Achilles referred to the station with its popular nickname, expressing his disdain.

“Because it’s quiet and friendly. We don’t want to get mugged or run into some nasty people on our first day, do we?” Patroclus reasoned.

“I guess, but we still have to visit First Central sometime,” said Achilles reluctantly.

“Of course we will, it’s a space icon!” Patroclus belittled his disgruntled friend. “Now we get to test out the hyperdrive though!” He said, punching in co-ordinates and checking that they could make the jump.

“Is this gonna be our first jump?”

“Of course.”

“We should probably have some sort of ceremony, shouldn’t we?” Asked Achilles.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Shall we push the drive forward together?” Achilles placed his hand on the drive.

“Wait wait wait!” Patroclus quickly shut his friend down. “I need to calibrate the drivers… Okay, we’re good, I think we have a clear shot to the station.” He also placed his hand on the drive, on top of Achilles. He shuddered a little.

“Ready? On three?”

“Sure thing.”

“One.” Patroclus’ hand tightened.

“Two” He braced himself.

“THREE!” They pushed the lever forward together, hearing the engines scream, and then they were smashed against the back of their seats as their surroundings blurred and they seemed to be travelling through some sort of fabricated passage which continued endlessly. There was no stopping them as they raced through the empty expanse of space.

In an instant, the feeling was gone, and Patroclus’ stomach was feeling rather unpleasant, but Achilles was already racing through to the bathroom as he retched into the toilet.

Patroclus was quick to follow.

They eventually made it back into the cockpit, and sat down.

“Well, that was certainly an experience wasn’t it?” said Achilles.

“Oh my God, that was the best and worst thing I have ever done.” Patroclus breathed out, gulping in air.

“Wait, look! Over there!” Sure enough, there was the space base, bathed in golden light, it sat motionless in space, a great grey hulk of windows and decks. It was a spherical shape, with various grooves and little platforms sticking out for maintenance or for the various shops it was no doubt filled with.

A crackly voice filled the cabin. Achilles turned off _Fly Me to the Moon_ which had repeated a few times without the pair noticing.

“Hello? This is Fourth Central A1v-B7 contacting unidentified spacecraft, please state your identity, ship chip and your business.” Patroclus scrambled over to the mic.

“Hello! We are Achilles and Patroclus aboard E5z-J6, exploring the universe. We need to stop off for supplies and Energy.”

“Oh, you’re from Earth are you?” The man in the radio was good, recognising their ship chip as one from Earth so quickly. “My nan moved to Earth. She says it’s very pretty?”

“In some places, it is really fantastic, but our neighbourhood couldn’t really be described that way,” chuckled Patroclus as he thought of their boring suburbs full of boring people.

“I guess that’s expected. If everything was pretty then pretty wouldn’t be a thing now, would it?” The radio controller said. “Here, deck 7, bay 6. Enjoy your stay!” The crackly voice fizzled out.

“See, that guy was nice, wasn’t he? This place will be a great starting point, you grumpy sod.” Patroclus admonished Achilles’ dark expression.

“Fine.” Said Achilles, curtly. With that, Patroclus pushed the wheel forward and they accelerated towards the station, slowing as they entered the deck and hovered into the 6th bay.

“Fill her up on energy please!” Called Patroclus as he and Achilles walked across the dock. There were few other spaceships there, and the dock was quite clean, therefore, with a sleek black floor and white walls which were filled with sleeping droids recharging, or holes from which many pipes extended, dripping with oil for the old combustion engines many ships were fitted with. Behind them, space could be seen behind a whirring blue barrier which kept everyone from being sucked into the vacuum.

Patroclus and Achilles mounted the steps at the back of the dock, matte white after being cleaned by one of the countless boys who ran around as assistants to engineers to make a little extra money. They walked through the sliding door at the top of the stairs and made their way through the black-floored corridors to the nearest elevator. Patroclus pressed the button for _Deck 11 – Shopping 01_ and with a click and a whirr the lift moved, pressing their feet into the floor a bit more.

“Do you want anything in particular? I think I’m going to get a coffee machine to fit to one of the cupboards, and perhaps even a little stove? We don’t have much in the way of cooking equipment.”

“That sounds fine to me. Get a kettle will you? I’m going to have a look around and perhaps get some food. Jumping to hyperspace really takes it out of you, y’know?” Patroclus understood completely – after hurling his breakfast into the toilet, he was feeling a little hungry too. He set about the first matter at hand, though, heading over to one of the many shops advertising homeware.

The shops were housed in a low-ceiling-ed hall, for want of a better term, with one long, twisting passage which shops were indented in. The floors remained black and efficient while the walls of each shop were lit up with different colours as hidden lights projected all over the stores. In the back of many shops was a window into space, just behind the counter where some bored being surveyed the racks of products they had to sell.

The being behind the counter of the shop Patroclus entered looked mostly human, if you ignored his fangs and horns, but Patroclus had better things to do than worry about the species of the shopkeeper. He browsed through the store, selecting the items he wanted before he brought them all up to the counter.

“Are you new around here?” Asked the person behind the counter.

“I am actually. Just came out from Earth. Know the place?”

“I can’t say I do, but if you’re on your way out can you take away that kid who keeps loitering around here and dump him on a planet or something?”

“Who?”

“Just some guy who did something stupid and got himself stuck here. He’s been here for a good year or two apparently. I wouldn’t know about it personally, I only set up my store a few months ago, but he seems to scare the customers a bit. Maybe if you need a crewmate, you could take him? He gets a job, I get customers, and you get a crewmate. It’s a win-win-win situation, see?” The shopkeeper looked at Patroclus pleadingly, but Patroclus wasn’t keen, his eyes narrowed. Seeing this, the shopkeeper added “I’ll give you a 50% discount for the rest of your life if you do it?” Patroclus smiled.

“Sure thing.”

After paying, Patroclus left the shop, and it only took a little bit of looking around before he saw the person in question, a dirty guy slumped against a wall greeting the few people who walked past him. His hair was in a messy bun and he sported a full beard which needed trimming. Patroclus went over to him despite his distasteful dirty jeans and muddy black shirt.

“Hello. I hear you’ve been causing some grief for the poor man over there.” Patroclus gestured to the shop behind him.

“Well, there are only so many walls to lean on, see, and this is the only place where anybody goes and thus is the only place for me to get any money.” He said, surprisingly chipper. Patroclus understood his logic and looked the man over.

“What’s your name?” asked the adventurer.

“I’m Finn. Finn Jacobsen.” The beggar raised his hand to be shaken. Patroclus took it, surprised at how clean and soft his hands were. Seeing his look of surprise, the man explained.

“It’s the soap here man. Honestly, I’ve never had better, even when I wasn’t homeless. It’s all moisturise-ey and it cleans you really well. I won’t lie, I do use it to have a sink-shower in the night when no one else is around. Keeps me clean, even if I can’t put it on my clothes – there’s nowhere to dry them, y’know. Unfortunate, really unfortunate.” Patroclus was a feeling a bit grossed-out, but soldiered on with 50% off forever in mind.

“Look dude, it’s clear you need to get out of here. I’ve got a ship with my friend, we’re going adventuring around the universe, and I doubt an extra person can be bad. We won’t be able to pay you but we can keep you fed and in clothes, okay?” Finn’s face had lit up.

“Really dude? Oh man, you’re the best! I’ll totally come with you!” his happiness was intoxicating as he jumped up. “What are we doing first? When do we set off?”

“We’re leaving tomorrow. We’re gonna stay here for a little while and rest up. First, though, we’re getting you some clothes.” Finn’s face lit up.

“Awesome dude! I know this really great shop for clothes, come on!” With that, he began briskly strolling around the ring of shops, occasionally checking that Patroclus was keeping up with his eager pace. Finally, they came to a shop clearly selling a huge variety of clothing. Finn dived in, picking out all his clothes with lightning speed and buckets of eagerness. Finally, he came flying out from behind the clothing rack in front of an astonished Patroclus.

“I got all this… Stuff.” Panted Finn, gesturing to a handful of clothing. “I didn’t wanna… Get too much… Your money… After all,” Patroclus looked at him, cocking his head to the side, but managed words.

“Oh, yeah. Sure,” he took the clothes off Finn, going to the counter to pay for them.

“Are you getting him out of here?” Asked the shopkeeper as he glanced over Patroclus to Finn, who was subtly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he looked around, beard swinging with his rapid head movements.

“Yeah. The guy in the homeware store gave me half price for doing so,” Patroclus explained.

“Oh my God, you saint!” Proclaimed the now exuberant shopkeeper. “He’s been loitering and making my shop look bad for years. You can get half price for these clothes too for your service.” Patroclus smiled. His charity was certainly paying off.

“Thanks. Do you know why he ended up here?” asked Patroclus.

“Not really, no. He just turned up here a year ago, living on whatever change people tossed his way.”

“Huh,” said Patroclus. He would have to quiz Finn on that later. He left the shop, shooting Achilles a message through the holographic earpieces their ship had come with. “I’ve messaged my friend, he’s on his way over here. Beware, he isn’t in a great mood at the moment.”

“No worries,” said Finn, still smiling.

A few minutes later, Achilles rounded the corner, his blonde hair seeming to shine despite the well-lit mall. In his right hand he carried a large carrier bag with all manner of bulges and points coming from it. He strode towards the pair with a grin. Patroclus took a step back. Why was Achilles so cheery?”

“Hello, Patroclus,” beamed the blonde. “Guess what I found!” _Oh God._ “Guns! There was this shop selling loads of blasters and I thought I’d pick up a few. You know, for space pirates and all that. Keep us safe.” He patted the bag, which emitted a noise of metal bumping against metal. Patroclus groaned, but he could see Achilles’ logic.

“Well, I picked up our kitchen supplies.” He held up the bag he had acquired, but now Achilles was eyeing Finn.

“And you also picked up a beggar?”

“A rather clean beggar,” offered Finn with a bright smile.

“Yes, I did. He’s called Finn and me picking him up has got me 50% discounts in homeware stores for the rest of my life.” Achilles frowned. “He’s been here a while and the shopkeeper felt that he scared customers away,” Patroclus whispered to his companion, explaining the situation.

“Nice to meet you,” said Finn, offering his hand. Upon taking it, his frown became a look of surprise.

“It’s the soap. I’ll explain later,” said Patroclus hurriedly. He didn’t feel like telling Achilles of Finn’s occasional night time sink adventures. “Let’s get some food, and then we can go find some rooms for the night.”

 

After eating, the trio headed to the 14th deck for a place to stay. They paid for three conjoined rooms and settled down for the night. (If you could call it night. When you’re almost constantly facing the sun there isn’t really a night).

 

The next ‘morning’ the three of them checked out and got some breakfast at a café, gorging themselves on coffee and pastries.

The second they saw Finn the pair practically jumped out of their skins. He looked completely different. A baseball cap was slung over his now clean brown, short (ish) styled hair which hung across his clear face, home to only a little stubble and definitely no beard. This accented his strong, smooth jaw and slight cheekbones. A checked shirt hung over a white V-neck tee, which exposed a delicious amount of slightly tanned collarbone. Chinos did the rest of the work, outlining his skinny legs.

With the sun behind him through a window, Patroclus couldn’t help but feel very attracted to their new companion. To put it simply, he was _very_ hot. He certainly outdid the other two, who were dressed in jeans and T-shirts, but upon looking over to Achilles, Patroclus forgot all about Finn, taking in the beautiful boy shining like the sun as it rises from nothingness into the centre of an entire solar system.

The three of them headed downstairs to pick up some breakfast in a café Finn recommended.

“So,” said Achilles through a mouthful of croissant, “Tell us about yourself Finn.” A flicker of panic fluttered across Finn’s face but Patroclus and Achilles didn’t see it.

“There isn’t much to tell, really,” he began, sighing, “I came from Earth. You guys look like you do too, right?” They nodded. Finn continued: “I didn’t like my parents. They were strict and kept me away from other children. I couldn’t make friends, or even play. They were intent on me being some golden child in the Space Defense, a star pilot, y’know? Like Dameron, or something. I excelled at spaceflight school, doing the best in everything from all my hours of study at home. Eventually, I earned my license at 16, three years ago. My parents were ecstatic, sending me off to space races and stuff. I won every time, but I was just so _miserable_ , endlessly obeying my parents’ wishes like some little dog.” He paused, clenching his jaw as he mentioned his parents. “So I ran away.” Patroclus’ eyes widened and he took a breath, quietly drinking his latte.

“To here?” Asked Achilles.

“Yeah, to here. Upon landing my parents’ ship, which I had stolen, I promptly realised that I had nothing. No money, no friends, and no parents. I sold the ship, but it was old and didn’t get me much. It ran out about a year into my stay here, and I ended up stuck in this mall, begging for people’s change, all the way to 19 years of age.”

“Man.” Said Achilles, a little surprised. “That’s rough.” Finn smiled, perking up.

“It’s okay though, because now I have you guys!” Patroclus was unsure of the quick mood changes was undergoing, but was more focused on looking at Achilles in the subtlest way possible. Finn gave him a funny look, but said nothing.

 

A little while later, they were down on deck 7, and Achilles was showing Finn around the ship as Patroclus paid for the energy used to recharge it.

“So,” began Finn “Are you and Patroclus like, a thing?”

“What?” Achilles was startled, “uh, no, I don’t think so.”

“You don’t sound too sure.”

“Well, I dunno. He’s bi and I’m gay and we’ve experimented in the past, but we’ve never actually been in a proper relationship, y’know?”

“So you aren’t in a relationship?”

“No, I guess not.” Achilles’ cheeks were heating up.

“Well, Patroclus is pretty cute, do you mind if I like, make a move?” _Yes, you mind very much!_

“No, sure, if you want, go for it, man,” Achilles managed.

“Great, thanks so much,” Finn smiled at Achilles, but the other boy was mentally berating himself.

Patroclus took that moment to arrive, muttering about being scammed and “ridiculous prices” as he went to sit in the cockpit. Achilles and Finn took their seats, and Patroclus accelerated out of the hangar.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Send me asks and pretend you like my blog on tumblr: mrjoethejoe.tumblr.com


	3. Planet X9b47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newly formed trio visit a nearby planet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a day late, I forgot :/.  
> I feel like I've done something wrong in this chapter but I can't think of it and I cba to proofread it, so brace yourself.

**Chapter 3**

“Achilles,” the trio were flying to the nearest inhabited planet from 4th Central, X9b47, to see the natives.

“Yes Patroclus?”

“We haven’t named our ship, have – “Patroclus was cut off by Finn in the backseat:

“You _haven’t_ named _your ship?_ What kind of people are you?!”

“Dude, chill. We’ve just been a bit pre-occupied.”

“But – but every ship needs a name! You’re disrespecting yours by not giving it a name! You’re probably breaking some law on spaceships!”

“Okay! Please calm down Finn. We can think of a name.” Patroclus tried to calm their distressed friend. “I can’t think of any names off the top of my head. Ideas?”

“Well, it’s very clean?” Achilles offered.

“You want us to call our ship the _Clean?_ ” Patroclus was exasperated.

“Wait. I’ve got it guys! The _Phthia…_ ” Patroclus and Achilles stared at their companion.

“ _What?”_ they asked in unison.

“You know, after Phthia, the place the famous Greek hero Achilles and his companion Patroclus came from?” The pair looked puzzled.

“You guys really don’t know the origin of your names, do you?”

“Uhhh… No?” Achilles answered for the both of them.

“Well, as I said, Achilles was a great warrior and Patroclus was his companion, and they both came from the kingdom of Phthia. You guys come from this ship, so you should call it The Phthia!” Finn finished with a flourish.

“Well, it’s as a good a name as any. When we next go to a station we can get that sprayed on.”

The Phthia sped on through space, heading to planet X9b47.

After an hour or so, they could see the planet, small at such a distance.

Then, another hour passed, and the planet had begun to grow in size as their proximity to it decreased.

Eventually, they reached the planet as it loomed up in front of them, a green mass of untouched beauty.

“There it is.” Said Patroclus.

“X9b47 doesn’t really give it credit, does it?” said Finn, eyes wide with wonder.

“Yeah,” Achilles murmured in agreement.

“Hold on, we’re entering its gravitational field.” Patroclus warned as great lumps of rock loomed up in front of the intrepid teenagers.

Patroclus played with controls and grabbed the wheel as they smoothly glided by the silent giants in X9b47’s gravity.

Then came the atmosphere itself. Red formed around the ship as it entered said atmosphere. Patroclus pulled up as they began to reach the surface, grass and hills making themselves known in what seemed to be the evening light.

A minute later, they were cruising above the surface of the planet, trees shooting by below, covered in green. Looking down, Achilles spotted strange two legged creatures seemingly running over the leaves of said trees after the ship, their furry heads and wide eyes following the spacecraft as it reached a clearing in the trees and slowed, tilting backwards slightly before hovering downwards, the trees surrounded them as they descended, and all three realised just how big they were: towering beasts, reaching hundreds of metres above the ground with gnarled fingers and huge leaves which could fit two people. Then the ground drew near and the landing gear extended. Patroclus descended a little further before a thud and a resounding jolt indicated that they had landed.

Finn bounded out the ship onto sparse red grass surrounding them, spinning in a circle to look at Patroclus and Achilles.

“Look at this place!” He yelled, gesturing up at the trees and the grass and the clear blue sky. Massive leaves turned in the gentle breeze passing by, as if waving _“hello!”_ to a nearby tree, and Patroclus smiled at the prospect of exploring this place.

Beyond the clearing the trees, though metres apart, cast shadows upon the ground, letting dappled light filter down onto a myriad of tiny plants, bustling with pristine, colourful petals. It was at this point that Achilles looked into the trees, up into their knotted branches, and noticed the wildlife peering down at them: hundreds of pairs of eyes looked upon these strange furless creatures curiously, studying them studiously. He smiled at them and held his hands out.

Suddenly, one of the creatures was jumping out of the trees, soaring through the air. Achilles froze. It was jumping from 40 or 50 metres onto the hard ground below, and he yelled, but it was too late; the beast was falling already.

Achilles hadn’t noticed it before, but every animal was carrying a leaf on its back, held on by vine like twine which snaked around its body, and as it fell through the air, the individual thrust a hand behind its back, grabbing hold of the stalk of its leaf and pulling. Once the leaf was released, the creature grabbed the other end of it, where said leaf tapered into a point, and held both ends above its head, and just as suddenly as it was falling, it wasn’t, floating downwards from the sky, the leaf full of air, like a parachute.

As the beast drew nearer, Achilles realised that it was considerably larger than he had previously thought, almost two times his size, only a little smaller than the giant leaves of all the trees around them. However, it was too late to back out now, as the creature had landed with a thump, not a metre from him. Achilles gulped and looked up. Now it was closer, Achilles saw the creature with more detail: Long, wavy fur covered its body, made up of two long, thick arms, short, tree trunk legs attached to a beefy torso which expanded with every breath. This all led into its head, with a face of rough brown skin detailed by two nostrils, a wide mouth and large, intelligent eyes. Pointed ears peeked out above its face, smoothly blending with the red hair which covered the rest of its head.

“Hey, big guy.” The beast cocked its head, sizing up the human. “I’m Achilles. We’re here to explore your planet, alright?”

“Big… Guy.” The beast spoke, slowly forming the words with low, rumbling sounds. Achilles smiled.

“Yeah, dude. That’s _you_ ,” he pointed.

“Big… Guy. Dude.” The beast spoke again, pointing at itself with one giant hand. “Hell… O.”

“Yeah, that’s it!” Achilles was growing excited. The animal kept staring at him. “Yeah. I’ll call you Big Guys, and you can be Dude.” The animal was imitating his smile, grinning to bear particularly white teeth which stretched across its wide mouth. Then it leaned forwards, examining Achilles with bright eyes, walking round him slowly on its legs, dragging its great arms behind it. This lasted for the best part of fifteen minutes, until the primate-like animal walked right up to Achilles, sitting next to him and sniffing all over, twisting its head around his body. At such close proximity, Achilles could smell the animal, and see its fur waving and shifting with its movements. It smelt of something sweet, Achilles found, though he wasn’t sure what said sweet thing was. Overall he found it pleasant though, and once the beast drew back from Achilles, he looked around. A little way away from him, Patroclus and Finn had been examined by another creature who had probably gone over while Achilles was busy with Dude.

Dude emitted a low moaning sound at the trees which seemed to make the whole forest reverberate with happiness. A second later, Big Guys were jumping from all the trees around them, flying down through the air before they pulled out their own parachutes, soaring over the ship and nearly blocking out the sun as the trees did while Big Guys kept pouring from the trees. Patroclus took a picture, gazing up in amazement. The clearing quickly filled up as the Big Guys sat down around the ship, crowding to get a look at the newcomers. All three were poked and prodded and sniffed repeatedly by hundreds of Big Guys, until the day was drawing to a close properly, and the sun was hiding from view. All the Big Guys ascended the trees, disappearing into the canopy from which they had descended hours ago, and then Finn, Achilles and Patroclus were left alone.

“Huh. Where’d they all go?” asked Finn.

“Back into the trees to sleep I guess,” replied Patroclus. “Speaking of which, we should probably go inside and sleep too.” He headed over to the ship, followed quickly by the other two.

“Okay, but can we just talk about this first?” asked Achilles.

“Well… Yes, I suppose we should.” All three went into the living room of the ship, sitting on the couches in the yellow light from the overheads.

“So, what were those?” Patroclus questioned.

“They looked like primates of some type, certainly more evolved ones than the monkeys on Earth. I have decided to call them Big Guys, because… Well, they’re big, I guess.” Said Achilles, shrugging.

“That sounds dreadful,” Patroclus began, “but I suppose that I haven’t got a better suggestion so sure,” he admitted.

“Did you guys find that they smelt really good?” said Finn.

“Yeah, I did actually. Like, something sweet and delicate, perhaps a flower of some sort?” Patroclus suggested.

“I suppose. I think that we should stay a little while to learn about these creatures. I love them already if I’m completely honest,” Achilles smiled at the thought of the gentle creatures.

“I agree. It’s not like we have anywhere to be, is it?” Said Patroclus.

“Wait, did you guys hear that?” Finn sat up.

“Hear what?” Asked Achilles, concerned.

“That – that _sound._ It was like a roar. Faint, but definite.” Finn was frowning. At that moment, another roar came, high pitched and bone-shaking, and all three teenagers were alert.

“I definitely heard that.” Said Patroclus, “whatever is making that noise is getting closer, and based on the volume, it won’t be small.”

“You’re right. Should we take off?” Asked Finn, worried now. A thumping reached their ears, accompanied by leaves rustling and trees cracking.

“Something’s breaking down trees.” Patroclus’ voice wobbled at the end.

“What’s big enough to break down _these_ trees?” Achilles inquired.

“I’m not sure we want to – “

**_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRR!!_ **

A roar, clear and terrifying, screamed through the world around them. All three covered their ears, rushing out to the cockpit.

“Oh, my God.” Breathed Patroclus, taking out a camera and snapping a picture.

Before them stood a massive monster, panting, mouth full of sharp teeth the size of their ship, drooling, eyes narrowed and pitch black at the bottom of its scaly snout.

“It looks like a _dinosaur_ ,” remarked Achilles.

“No. No dinosaur was ever _that_ big.” Patroclus gestured at the beast, eyes wide.

“We need to get out of here _now._ ” Finn decided, shoving the amazed pair aside as he sat in the pilot’s seat and twisted the key in the ignition. The engines roared and the monster roared back, huge dollops of saliva screaming from its mouth. It took a huge step and covered half the clearing, and then another step and it was nearly on top of them but Finn was pulling back on the wheel and the ship veered backwards, away from one oncoming foot the size of a house, armed with claws the size of motorbikes. He hit the thrusters and they shot off into the air, speeding by the monster’s chest and spinning away from its great jaws as they snapped at the fly which buzzed by it.

Achilles and Patroclus had been thrown to the back of the cockpit, bumping their heads as they buckled into the two seats there. Finn pushed the wheel downwards and they were diving down, past the monster’s mouth again. Finn pulled up as they reached the ground, a hairs breadth from the great talons of the monster. He pushed the thruster forward again and they were shooting away the way the monster had come, racing over lush green trees which had been felled by the great creature’s hard scalp. It had started to chase them now, and Patroclus shivered as he looked back at it.

It was blue, with a grey belly. A tail extended behind it, the size of a few buses. This led into the torso of the beast, which was as tall as a warship and as wide as two houses. Finally, the ugly head of it had two bony crests on the top, which were now pointed towards the three of them as they were chased across the monster’s path of felled trees, cracking below its feet.

Though the little ship had gained ground on the monster, it was already closing, managing to keep up with their speed of hundreds of kilometres per hour with huge, quick bounds which turned its blue legs into a blur.

“FINN! GO FASTER, IT’S GAINING!” Yelled Patroclus.

“I CAN’T GO ANY FASTER! THIS IS TOP SPEED IN THIS ATMOSPHERE!”

The monster gained and gained until it was on top of them and the cracking of trees under its feet was deafening.

Finn pulled to the side and upwards, and they were shooting up, spiralling around its head and into the air. Finn pushed the thrusters as hard as they would go and they blasted away, high into the sky. When they were sufficiently high, everyone breathed sighs of relief, relaxing in their chairs.

“What _was_ that?” Finn managed.

“I don’t know man.”

“It looked like some kind of dinosaur, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Achilles yawned. “I haven’t got any better ideas. Nice flying, by the way, Patroclus has never done anything that good.” Finn shrugged, Patroclus looked grumpy.

“My parents were freaks about this stuff. I hated it but I’m still good.”

“Clearly, but I really wanna sleep now, okay?” Patroclus interjected grumpily.

“Yeah, sure. I reckon we can go sleep on a mountain, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

So they descended and began searching for a steep mountain which the monster would not get up. Eventually, a huge mountain rose into the air, a few kilometres high and covered in green, though only on the top: the sides were sheer cliffs, rocks descending into trees far below. It could have been twenty kilometres across, stretching out for miles on the top in a huge plateau.

“That looks good,” said Finn, and steered them into towards it, yet as they got close, they heard an easily recognisable sound. Huge thumps and great, screaming roars.

“How did it get up _there_?!” Patroclus was astounded. As they got close to the plateau, the thumps got louder. They cruised high above it until they spotted the monster.

“Wait, that isn’t the same monster.” Said Achilles, frowning. “Ours had huge dark blue marks all over it, like scars. This one is completely clear. It looks to be in perfect condition.”

“Well it seems that we found the rest of that guy’s species, lads.” Said Finn, pointing, because other monsters were converging on the first one, until there was a gathering of twenty or so, all rubbing shoulders and seemingly talking to each other. However, they weren’t all the same colour; some were red, or green, and some even displayed pink colouring. The blue one was the only blue one there.

Finally, the group broke up, but one stayed as the rest dispersed. It walked to the edge of the plateau, and emitted another roar, but this one was not so fierce or terrifying, but sadder, and lonely, as if the monster were crying to itself.

But then, a cry was heard from below, from the bottom of the plateau, on the ground far below. Finn flew down to see which monster made it, and there he was, the very creature which had chased them not two minutes ago, dark blue, ragged marks raked across his sides. His eyes were sad, so wide that you could see their whites.

“He’s calling out to that creature up on the plateau, isn’t he?” Asked Achilles.

“Looks like it,” Finn said.

“Wait.” Said Patroclus. “What if… What if these two are like, mother and son or something, y’know? The monster up there was the only blue one we saw right, and now the only other blue monster we’ve seen is talking to it from far below.”

“Wait, are they like, related then? Their colours indicate their family?” Cogs were spinning in Finn’s head.

“Yeah, but then, why isn’t he up on that plateau with the rest of his species?” Asked Patroclus.

“Wait! It’s because he fell, isn’t it? Somehow, he fell from the plateau, and all those scars and marks are from it bashing against the cliffs as it fell?” Finn theorised.

“You know, that might be right! He’s calling to his mother up there because he can’t get back up so he’s trapped down here!” Achilles agreed.

“But what do we do?” Asked Patroclus.

They fell into silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make my life miserable by asking me shit on my tumblr: mrjoethejoe.tumblr.com.  
> Thank you so much for reading, have a wonderful day!
> 
> Also shoutout to snipersandcuddles for commenting and leaving kudos, thank you so much! (Also thanks to the guests, but I can't like do a proper shoutout).


	4. The Big Guys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of shit happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so fucking sorry. i thought i uploaded a chapter last week but it didn't go up, apparently. You get it now, it seems. It looks like I will also struggle with a chapter per week due to term beginning, so it'll change to 1-2 weeks. Probably always on Sundays.
> 
> i think this might have some dodgy typos and such, but i wrote it in a rush :/. Sorry if you do find any errors

**Chapter 4**

The boys had been watching the monster calling up at his relative for at least an hour when the calls became louder, and somehow even sadder, echoing around the trees. He heaved and shook his head, crouching down low, before he jumped, a huge push making a dent in the ground a few metres deep. The massive creature flew upwards towards the cliff wall, before slamming into he, feet scrabbling when razor claws, digging into a little cave in the side of the stone, pushing off he further up the cliff, where he found yet another cave, digging in to send he further upwards, where the caves promptly stopped. The monster cried out in rage and fear, scrabbling at the rock before he tumbled away, falling a good hundred metres or so before he slammed into the ground, making a noise that could have been heard for miles around, a huge thump which pushed the nearby trees away.

“Oh my God. He’s trying to climb.” Remarked Patroclus breathlessly, eyes wide.

“He’s using those little caves in the side of the cliff,” Finn cocked his head.

The monster was getting to his feet again now, taking a step backwards before he jumped at the cliff again, roaring as he once again pushed himself up the unforgiving stone with powerful leg movements, scattering tiny rocks from both the caves. Then he ran out of caves again, falling with as much grace as an elephant.

This time he did not get up, but stayed down on the ground, body racking with sobs as his empty eyes filled with tears as big as a person. The sun rose for the new day and the beast fell asleep, tears creating ponds below his head.

“Shit man, that’s horrible.” Achilles sighed.

“Yeah, that really sucks, but there’s little we can do about it except go back to those huge monkey creatures, I guess,” Finn’s bottom lip trembled a little as he pushed the throttle forward and the ship shot away.

Upon arriving at the clearing, the trio found every Big Guy surrounding a pile of huge furry bodies, covered in dried blood, eyes glassy and fearful. All three took in a sharp breath. Finn landed the ship and they left it, heading over to the docile creatures, who let them through. Finn’s lip was trembling and he was blinking back tears as Achilles and Patroclus walked over to the bodies, stony faced and fierce. Upon reaching them, Patroclus counted six bodies, one of which was a baby, a little smaller than himself, clinging onto the body of its mother.

“Jesus,” Patroclus held back vomit as he beheld the huge, raking wounds which scarred every body.

“You don’t say,” Achilles responded, steely but otherwise unaffected by the scene before him.

“Guys, we gotta do something about this, y’know?” Finn was tearing up properly now. “Look at this. _All_ of this,” he gestured to the bodies and the corpses of the trees at the same time, stretching into the distance in a gargantuan path of unbridled destruction. “Even the monster himself, yeah? Even he’s suffering.”

It seemed that the planet was rapidly turning into more of a hell than a paradise.

-

It was about midday, and Finn and Patroclus were enjoying sandwiches outside the ship when a Big Guy lumbered over, staring at their food. He bent over, sniffing the bread curiously.

“It’s a sandwich,” Finn said up to him, “want some?” He tore off a piece and held it up. The Big Guy reached forward, gently taking it. Finn smiled as the rough, thick skin brushed across his hand.

The creature put the sandwich in his mouth, and munched slowly, thoughtfully. His eyes lit up, wide with excitement. Finn grinned, bearing all his teeth. The Big Guy cocked his head, narrowing his eyes.

“What?” Asked Finn, concerned at his companion’s sudden challenge. Before he could move away, the Big Guy had opened his mouth, keeping his huge teeth visible in a wide grin. Finn laughed, shoulders shaking and eyes scrunched up. Patroclus did a double take at how attractive their new companion looked as he laughed in the sunlight, but he couldn’t help laughing too, as the great beast grinned from ear to ear, quite literally.

Then, his wide, almost froglike mouth opened up, showing a cavern within, but Finn and Patroclus only laughed harder at the new expression. Then, the Big Guy’s shoulders began to shake with theirs and low, booming “ha”s echoed out of his gullet. Patroclus rolled over in laughter, hooting as he thumped the ground.

Once again, the Big Guy imitated them, falling to the ground and rolling around in the grass, still “laughing” as he rolled around. Neither Patroclus or Finn expected the huge thump from their new friend’s fist as it slammed into the ground, making their whole bodies jump off the ground a little.

At this, they only laughed harder, chests heaving and lungs bursting with happiness as they bounced up and down alongside the Big Guy.

Their laughter pealed up to the heavens, free in the infinite sky.

After a while, they calmed down, and Achilles came from the ship, rubbing his eyes.

“Why are you laughing so hard? You woke me from my _nap,_ ” he snapped, scowling.

“Sorry Achilles,” Patroclus wiped tears from his eyes. “This Big Guy,” he gestured to the BG, who was no longer laughing, “copied Finn when he laughed, and then we just fell into a fit, and he can hit the ground so hard we bounce up and down a little bit,” Finn grinned at the disgruntled blonde.

“Huh. Sounds great,” Achilles was still scowling, “I’m gonna go finish my nap in _silence_ , okay?” He turned round and headed back into the ship sharply.

“Ooh, someone didn’t get their beauty sleep last night.” Patroclus jabbed at his best friend, but the ship door had slid closed, shutting Achilles off from them.

“Ah, we can cheer him up later. Let’s go meet some more Big Guys,” Finn gestured to their laughing friend as he walked to the nearest tree.

“Wait, let us come with you!” Patroclus called at the beast, and they chased after him. He smiled when he saw them, and invited them to sit on his huge shoulders. Both men did so, and in a second the ape had begun to climb the tree. Patroclus ran his hands through the Big Guy’s smooth, thick fur, revelling in its softness.

“Hey, Patroclus,” Finn was looking at the trunk of the tree they were traversing. “They make little hand and footholds in the tree trunk, which they climb with,” Patroclus looked upwards, and saw all the handholds Finn spoke of, little indents in the tree which hardly made it past the bark due to its immense size.

“Oh yeah,” he said thoughtfully.

“Hey, shouldn’t we name this Big Guy?” Finn asked, gesturing to their laughing friend.

“Yeah, that actually seems like a good idea. What do you think would be a good name?”

“How about…” Finn paused, thinking. He sat up straight with an idea. “Sandwich!”

“ _What?_ ” Patroclus was exasperated.

“We should call him Sandwich because we met him because of a sandwich!”

“Well, I’ve heard worse ideas. Sandwich it is!” Patroclus gave in easily.

“Hey, Big Guy,” Finn patted him on the shoulder. “Your name is now Sandwich, yeah?”

Sandwich made a low grunt of appreciation, occupied with climbing.

Before long, they had made it around halfway up the tree, and they were fast approaching what appeared to be a vast, almost solid wooden platform, a huge network of interlocking branches blocking out all light from the sun.

“Look at that. It looks like some sort of platform made of trees.” Patroclus gazed breathlessly upwards.

“Yeah, you’re right. I suppose we’ll get a close-up look in a minute. “

Sure enough, they made it closer and closer until they were right below the platform, shrouded in shadows. Their Big Guy reached upwards, and pushed on a thick branch above them. It flexed, rolling back in an almost impossible fashion, and the Big Guy climbed through it.

“Oh. My. God.” Patroclus was breathless. _No solid wood should move like that without breaking._

“Don’t question it man. Just enjoy it.” Finn brushed Patroclus’ wonderment aside, but even he was stumped, eyes wide and mouth open as he beheld what was on the other side of the wood platform. The canopy was still high above, but overhanging branches provided a sort of roof for the natural treehouse, bathing it in gleaming sunlight.

That wasn’t the most amazing part though. All across the platform, which was hundreds of metres long _and_ wide, were groups of Big Guys, rolling around and playing jovially.

“Holy Crap.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again. this chapter is short but i've got another longer one lined up (3k words holla holla) for this coming Sunday.  
> Make me miserable on my tumblr: mrjoethejoe.tumblr.com
> 
> Shoutout to Codenamelanto and teenage_dystopian_book_nerd and guests for the kudos. Thank you so much.


	5. Smarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patroclus and Finn learn more about the Big Guys and the trio solve the monster's problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup bois, here is the next chapter at like 4k words to make up for forgetting the other week. As I said, chapters will now be 1-2 weeks, but always on a Sunday. This is because of school starting up mostly, alongside varying amounts of motivation.  
> This contains mentions of sex/is suggestive.

**Chapter 5**

Finn and Patroclus stared around in wonderment as the sunlight danced over the happy apes.

“So this is where they live, huh?” Patroclus managed.

“Looks like it,” Sandwich had begun to walk off with slow, heavy steps, “hey, wait up Sandwich!” Finn called after their friend. They fell into step beside him, heads snapping every which way to witness all the jovial creatures enjoying themselves.

It was hard to keep up, however. The tight knit of branches below their feet snaked all over, leaving an uneven surface to walk on. Both Finn and Patroclus had to focus hard to not jar their feet or twist their ankles as they picked their way across the seemingly infinite platform of trees. It dipped in a huge, netlike shape, and many Big Guys coalesced in the centre as they fought to escape the bottom of the pile they had formed. Finn carefully looked where he placed his feet as they skirted the dip so he wouldn’t fall over into the mess.

Finally, after what felt like years but was actually only five minutes of walking, the trio came to a particular group of Big Guys, tumbling around on a raised knot of branches. A loud grunt from Sandwich brought the fighting creatures from their business to attend to their visitors. Once all the fighting Big Guys were sat in a line, looking down from their raised knot upon Patroclus and Finn, Sandwich began to communicate, gesturing with his long limbs and making grunting noises.

Patroclus took the alien conversation as an opportunity to study the five beasts before them. Behind them, the platform ended, disappearing into air, but he was more focused on the sheer size of the Big Guys before them. They were a good few feet taller than any other Big Guys they had seen, and their fur seemed a little more golden, glistening in the dappled sunlight the leaf canopy allowed. All five of them held themselves high, heads raised and chests puffed out, heads cocked in conversation with Sandwich.

 _Could these Big Guys be, like, royalty? The leaders?_ Patroclus considered, mentally. He didn’t feel like talking; the size of the supposed royalty stopped him from doing so.

After plenty of grunting and snorting, and some very odd noises besides those, the Big Guys came from their conversation, and the royalty stood. They all heaved in a breath, before bending forward, and bellowing. The trees vibrated as throaty calls boomed across the platform, the end of which couldn’t be seen.

“This is… Incredible,” Finn gasped.

“Yeah, you don’t say.” Patroclus retorted, slightly sweaty from nerves. He was unsure of the intent of the creatures before them. He could not ponder it further, though, as Big Guys were walking over from across the platform, lumbering steps vibrating through his feet. They crowded round, heads high and eyes excited. As they amassed, a wall of fur built around the pair of humans, until nothing could be seen beyond them. Thick, dark fur was everywhere, but the Big Guys maintained a small circle which allowed Patroclus and Finn to breath.

After a few minutes, all the apes appeared to have been collected, and the tallest Big Guy with the brightest fur stood, addressing his subjects. He talked for a good five minutes, his low throaty grunts and bellows echoing across the trees. Patroclus tried to ignore his fear, but when he was being judged by hundreds of eyes from creatures he’d never seen before yesterday, it was hard not to. Finn remained strong, his face hard-set and ready for anything.

The king finished speaking.

Patroclus stared, wide eyed, at the crowd before him. Finn’s steely look faltered.

But the crowd erupted into roars, and the happiness within the sound immediately vanquished all fear that the pair of men felt. They smiled as the Big Guys roared and bellowed, descending again into playing.

“I think…” Said Patroclus breathlessly, “that we just passed the judgement of the king.”

“What?” Finn was confused.

Patroclus quickly explained his theory of the Big Guys having a monarchy to Finn, who nodded, understanding.

“But what happens now?” He asked.

“Let’s find out,” Patroclus replied, for the king was standing, his gold-furred companions standing with him. They stepped down from their raised knot of branches, and began to walk away from their happy subjects, looking back at Patroclus and Finn pointedly.

“I think,” Patroclus began,

“That we’re supposed to follow them?”

“Probably.” Patroclus finished.

“Let’s do it then!” Finn grinned, his eyes gleaming excitedly.

_Shit, he’s hot._

“Uh, sure. Let’s go,” Patroclus began walking off, brushing his thoughts aside.

The king led them across the platform, away from the edge and towards the centre, where the interlocked branches became thicker and the leaf coverage became denser, making the platform darker. Patroclus stumbled but Finn caught him, his strong arms lifting the smaller man and placing him back on his feet. Patroclus blushed.

“Thanks,”

“No problem.” Finn smiled, before hurrying along after the king who had grunted impatiently.

Finally, they reached what appeared to be the very centre of the platform, where the branches were huge and unimaginably thick, emanating from a huge tree trunk that Patroclus couldn’t see around due to its huge size. Footholds were carved into it, and the king picked up the two men, placing them on his shoulders before he began to climb, ascending the footholds which navigated along the trunk, through the coverage of leaves and branches, and to a light far above. They reached it all too quickly, and Finn was feeling quite sick by the time they reached the light. However, upon breaching the leaves, all feelings of sickness immediately disappeared­, for they now beheld the leafy top of the planet. Green leaves extended everywhere, cresting great mountains and deep drops. The strange creatures that they had seen on their way in, running over the treetops, were there, on a larger scale than they had seen before. Great swathes of them sprinted across the leaves on two legs, almost flying as the great grey undulating mass that was their collective population skimmed across the greenery, like one huge herd. Some ran past them, right next to them on the leaves. Patroclus saw that they used large tails to turn or even maintain height and wide feet to spread their weight over the huge leaves. The sun lit up the landscape as it slowly fell after midday, and the pair smiled, witnessing the beauty before them. The king grunted in approval, looking down upon his kingdom.

He appeared to have things to do, however, as he was turning away, gesturing to Patroclus and Finn. He pointed up at a tiny piece of wood which extended above even the other parts of the canopy, a thinner part of the huge trunk which they had used to climb. The king reached behind his back, and pulled out a great leaf, like the ones which the other Big Guys all had, and kept gesturing to the piece of wood, because it held many leaves just like his: huge pieces of greenery which could break the fall of creatures as big as him.

“I think… That we’re supposed to choose a leaf,” Patroclus said, looking up at the small bunches of them above him.

“Well I call dibs on that one!” Finn pointed at a particularly large leaf which was probably the same size as him and of a mostly circular shape. He reached up, but still couldn’t reach the leaf despite his height. The king grunted, stepping forward and picking the leaf off the high branch with ease. Finn smiled up at the Big Guy.

“Thanks.”

Patroclus was trying to choose his leaf, and ended up settling for a thin one, which was a little longer than his body. Now they had their leaves, it was time for their first lesson. The king grasped his own leaf, and showed the pair how he held it by the stalk and tip, before he leapt off the trunk of the tree, soaring through the air for an instant before he held his leaf up, above his head. It filled with air and he was now gently floating, heading down towards the rest of the canopy, away from the huge tree at the centre of his kingdom.

“Now we’re gonna have to follow him, aren’t we?” Patroclus was unsure of how safe this was.

“Exactly!” Finn yelled, running and jumping off the top of the massive trunk. His weight fell and for a second he felt more free than anything else in the world, his hair being ruffled by the breeze and his stomach dropping out in the most exciting way. He whooped and lifted his arms, holding his leaf above his head. It filled with air as the king’s had, and then he was floating, gently floating but a few metres above the main canopy as he cruised at a steady speed after the huge Big Guy.

“Come on Patroclus!” Finn yelled behind him, as Patroclus looked at him with apprehension.

 _Oh, what the hell. He’s done it, hasn’t he?_ Without further thought, Patroclus was running, and throwing himself off into space, and he could feel nothing for a second. The world disappeared and he was soaring through infinity, lifting his hands above his head, eyes wide. The leaf caught his fall and he too was cruising above the trees after the king. The wind ruffled his hair and he flew high, like a kite, yelling and screaming and whooping in happiness.

His jump had taken him closer to the trees than Finn’s had, so he was catching the other man steadily, and bypassed him with a grin, flying by on a leaf.

“Hey!” Finn called after him, but Patroclus had to focus on the king, who was maybe a hundred metres ahead of them, spiralling downwards through what appeared to be a hole in the trees.

“There! We have to get through that hole, Finn!” Patroclus yelled through the wind as they approached said hole. It was a gaping area where no leaves or branches could interrupt their flight.

Patroclus pushed his hands forward and pulled his left hand down on the leaf, so he began to spiral and descend simultaneously, soaring through the hole and towards the platform which now loomed below him. He realised too late that he was going too fast, and yelled in fear as he came crashing down onto the platform, rolling over the branches to deal with the impact. He heard Finn’s laughter above him, but was satisfied as the other man got his leaf caught on an overhanging branch and fell as Patroclus had, having the wind knocked out of him as he hit the hard, knotted branches which the Big Guys lived on.

“Not laughing now, are you!” Said Patroclus triumphantly, grinning down at the taller teen.

“Shut up,” Finn was unhappy, but the king had walked over from where he had safely and comfortably landed with a gentle _thump!_

The king grunted, though it couldn’t be said whether it was a grunt of approval or disapproval.

“Time for our next lesson?” Asked Patroclus innocently, staring up at the huge ape. He grunted, and had them follow him to the edge of the platform, where the tightly packed trees disappeared into the distance. The king leapt onto the nearest tree, swinging off its great branch to land on the branch of another tree. The two men followed, receiving their first lesson in tree climbing/navigation. They leapt from tree to tree again and again, using their leaves to slide down particularly lengthy branches.

Finally, they made it back to the platform, panting and sweating, hands dirty from grabbing so many branches. They collapsed, exhausted. The king looked down upon them in approval, pleased with what they had learnt so far. Finn managed to sit up.

“Hey, Patroclus,” he panted.

“What,” the smaller boy was breathless.

“Race you to the central tree!” Finn yelled, desperately running across the platform to the trunk in the centre, climbing it with his strong arms. Patroclus panted behind him, trying to grab his foot to gain the advantage. Finally, when they were close to the top, he caught Finn’s foot, pulling the other man down as he climbed up the tree, just managing to reach the top, where he leant against the thinner section of trunk triumphantly, grinning as Finn heaved himself up behind the other man.

“HA! I… win…” Patroclus panted, sliding down the tree and sitting down.

“Yeah... Yeah…” Finn admitted defeat, sitting down beside Patroclus.

It was now getting into the evening, the sun beginning to disappear behind the horizon as it cast golden light across the treetops, long shadows of mountains streaming behind them, like hair, flying in the light.

“Look, the sun’s setting!” Finn pointed gleefully from where he sat.

“Oh yea…” Patroclus was stunned into silence, trailing off as he saw the sun.

As they watched, a herd of the “flying” creatures skimmed across the treetops, running across the leaves, shadows fluttering and flickering with glee.

“This is… Beautiful.” Patroclus sighed, long and content. Finn glanced over. The gold shone on Patroclus’ eyes, making them gleam and become even more attractive. His face was partly in shadows which contoured his soft face in the twilight. _Holy shit._

“Not as beautiful as you,” Finn breathed. Patroclus’ breath caught in his throat as he looked over at his companion.

Finn leaned in, and Patroclus was blinking, trying to stay still, trying to not freak out. Finn kept leaning in.

He was so close now, Patroclus could feel his breath, make out every detail of his beautiful face as it kept moving towards him.

And then he felt their lips touch, and Patroclus melted, hardly breathing as Finn’s lips moved against his own.

 _What the fuck Patroclus, you don’t like Finn, you like Achilles!_ Patroclus’ brain protested, but Patroclus didn’t care because Finn was so hot and he was kissing _him_ and it was awesome and he felt like he was in pure ecstasy and he was grinning into the kiss and he didn’t know if he could stop.

Then the kiss turned more heated, however, as Finn’s lips moved more frantically and Patroclus could feel his tongue. He pulled back.

“We should take this somewhere else, shouldn’t we?” he breathed.

“Yes, yes, we should,” Finn managed, standing and jumping off the tree, brandishing his leaf. “This’ll be the fastest way back!” he yelled back at Patroclus, who was already following, jumping into oblivion. He pulled his leaf and they were gliding across the trees towards their clearing.

Neither Patroclus or Finn could focus on any of the trees flying below, let alone focus on the journey itself, as their minds span with thoughts of the other.

They spiralled into the clearing a minute later, landing with a stumble. They ran into the ship, falling into Finn’s room. Patroclus quickly locked the door as they continued to kiss, awkwardly walking over to the bed…

**\----------------------------------------------------SEXY TIMES ;D--------------------------------------------------------------**

“Hey! Finn? You in there? I can’t find Patroclus! He isn’t in his bed!” Achilles pounded on Finn’s door. Finn blearily unlocked it with a remote, forgetting that both he and Patroclus were naked in bed together in his slow, recently woken brain.

Achilles strode in, beginning to explain the ‘situation’. He stopped, abruptly, in the centre of the room. Staring at Finn and Patroclus in bed. His eyes widened. He pointed.

“Are you-?” he managed.

“Wha-? Naked? Yes.” Finn took a second to figure out what Achilles was talking about through his morning head.

“And did you-?” Achilles was tense, but Finn didn’t notice.

“Have sex? Yes.” Finn was composing himself as he sat up in bed, keeping the covers over himself. Achilles unfroze, and stormed out of the room.

“See you in 5 minutes!” He called behind him. Finn groaned, sluggishly sliding to his feet, trying to stay upright. He pulled on a pair of boxers and shook Patroclus, who was beginning to wake up, muttering and struggling to push himself up.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Finn shook Patroclus, who merely groaned. Finn sighed. “Achilles wants you outside in 5, okay?” Patroclus grunted as Finn got dressed and walked out of the ship into the morning light. He blinked.

“So the monster doesn’t run around killing trees every night then?” he said, squinting at Achilles, who was stood tall, arms crossed, staring away.

“Oh, yeah, apparently not.” Achilles stiffened.

“You alright?” Finn asked, frowning.

“Oh yeah, fine.” Achilles brushed off his concern, loosening his shoulders and turning round to look at Finn. “Breakfast?” He offered.

The three of them ate breakfast together, and Patroclus and Finn explained everything that had transpired the previous day.

“Sounds great, I need to see that after this.” Achilles looked at the two of them. “I checked up on our systems when I woke up. We’re all good, no damage whatsoever. I’m so happy with all these guns though! We have a _plasma cannon!_ A _P-L-A-S-_ wait.” Achilles stopped his spelling of plasma cannon as a thought came into his head. “You know how the monster tried to climb the mountain with those little footholds in it?” Achilles’ brain was whirring. “What if… We made more?  We can use our plasma cannon to create more holes for it to climb up!” Patroclus was stunned.

“That might work, actually.” He was impressed.

“So we’ve figured out what to do. Let’s go do it!” Finn yelled, running into the ship.

“You can pilot, Finn,” Patroclus gave up his seat. Achilles sat beside Finn to operate the cannon.

Five minutes later, they were at the Cliffside. The monster was nowhere to be seen.

“It’s probably better that the monster isn’t here,” said Achilles. He pressed a few buttons on the dashboard, and the plasma cannon extended from the top of the ship, unfolding from two doors in the roof.

“Ready?” Finn and Patroclus nodded.

“FIRING!” Achilles yelled, hitting a button on the dash. A ball of plasma flew out from the cannon, colliding with the cliff with a huge crash. Rock cracked and debris came flying from it, hitting the windscreen. As the dust cloud fell away, there was a clear hole in the cliff, like the ones the monster used to climb.

“Perfect!” Achilles cried, but there was something missing from his voice. Patroclus frowned behind his best friend.

They continued for hours, until past lunchtime, when they landed at the base of the cliff to eat. Halfway through their meal, a roar shattered their tranquillity. A loud grunt came from the trees, where the king was stood, staring at them and beckoning them into the shelter of the forest, away from the monster, which was now visible on the horizon as it charged over to the cliff. The teens were running to the shelter of the trees now, hiding in them as the monster’s earth-splitting footsteps came closer.

Finally, it was there, beside them, at the bottom of the cliff, making mournful roars up to the top. It was impossible to tell if the monster had noticed the extra footholds, but it was certainly trying to climb the cliff. With powerful legs, it launched itself upwards, pushing into the first caves in the cliff. It pushed upwards again, and its foot found the next man-made cave, pushing itself up that one. It did so again and again, disappearing into the low-lying clouds. Finally, there came a huge roar which shook the ground and ruffled the trees. A roar of triumph, happiness.

“Come on, let’s go see him!” Finn ran out to the ship, leaving the king behind, but the Big Guy was climbing the cliff frantically, hopeful, ready to see the monster returned to its natural habitat where it wouldn’t terrorise his subjects. The ship launched into the air, rising quickly, until it breached the clouds and came out next to the huge cliff. There, the monster was rubbing its neck against the neck of his companion, their blue skin blending together in the sunlight.

“IT WORKED!” Yelled Finn jubilantly, leaping out of his seat. “IT FUCKING WORKED!” All three boys were grinning, but Finn had forgotten to put the ship in hover mode.

Without a pilot, it plummeted. Gravity disappeared as Achilles and Patroclus floated out of their seats.

“SHIT!” Finn yelled from the ceiling.

“FUCKING GET THIS SHIP FLYING AGAIN NOW FINN!” Achilles yelled at Finn, who was desperately reaching for the dashboard. He grasped it and pulled himself down into his seat, flicking hover mode on. The ship froze in mid-air, hovering but a few metres above the ground. All three came crashing down into the cockpit, noses squashed on the floor.

“OW!” yelled Patroclus. Finn looked up from his position on the floor.

“That went well then, didn’t it?” he grinned. Achilles and Patroclus scowled.

-

A few hours later, the three were enduring celebrations with the Big Guys as the king roared and grunted, (hopefully) explaining what the teens had done.

“Good job guys.” Achilles grinned at the other two, who grinned back in the evening light.

Far above them, the monster roared in happiness, looking down upon the strange pink creatures which saved it.

The sun winked, finally disappearing behind the horizon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There ya go! Thank you very much for reading.  
> Tumblr: mrjoethejoe.tumblr.com
> 
> Shoutout to Liana_Del_Rey this week! Thank you for leaving kudos!  
> Have an awesome day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio go to a space station, but are thrown quickly into peril by space pirates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup. This chapter's a little short, and not all that good, in my opinion. I don't know. I'm not sure what to do with the whole space pirate concept. It's fun to write about, but I'm not sure about how I'll use it in the story. :/.  
> Oh well, enjoy!

**Chapter 6**

“Bye!” The boys had spent 6 months with the Big Guys after they got rid of the monster, and they’d learnt all about the forest, climbing through the trees and soaring through the air on leaves every day. They were like Tarzan; soaring from tree to tree, arms flailing to keep balanced, tearing along branches and sliding down trunks, surfing the mossy bark.

However, they had to leave the beautiful planet. They had spent ‘far too long’ (quote Patroclus) with the apes, and though they didn’t want to, they decided to leave.

“See ya later, Sandwich!” Finn waved at their friend as he walked onto the ship. They had taught all the Big Guys to wave, so every one of them was waving, huge, furry arms swinging back and forth, in some sort of infinite crowd. You couldn’t see where the crowd ended, there were so many of them, all amassed in a huge wave of arms. The king stood at the front of the crowd, bowing them goodbye.

“Bye guys!” Achilles called fondly, taking one last glance back before the door of the ship shut with a hiss. Finn was in the pilot’s seat, and Achilles took his place in the co-pilot’s seat, for he was the only person who could operate the guns. With one last wave, Finn turned the ship on and it began to hum, rising into the air. The trees rose above beside them, and once they had cleared the treeline they saw the canopy for the final time, the untouched greenery stretching into infinity, climbing mountains and descending canyons. Patroclus sighed. _I’m gonna miss this place._

“We’ll come visit again sometime, right?” asked Finn, looking out of the window forlornly.

“Yeah, of course!” Achilles was trying to keep smiling through the sadness.

With that, Finn pushed the throttle forward; the ship shot through the sky, seeming to slow down as they left the atmosphere, the blackness of space stretching before them. They navigated between asteroids around the planet and they were floating in space.

“Where to next, then?” Asked Finn expectantly.

“Well, I reckon we should go to the nearest space station. We’re almost out of food and we only have enough energy for one hyperjump,” Patroclus suggested.

“Sure, but let’s not go back to Central 4, yeah? It won’t be as exciting,” Finn said.

“I think I heard about a place a few solar systems over. Sub-central 49?” Achilles chimed in, bringing up the map. A 3D hologram of the surrounding area of space popped up in front of them. Achilles navigated through it.

“Here!” Achilles gestured to a little blue dot around 6 solar systems away. He selected it for the hyperjump.

“It says we can make that,” said Finn.

“Then let’s go!” Said Achilles, pushing some buttons to turn on the hyperdrive.

“Away!” Finn yelled as he hit the final button.

The ship jolted and the world blurred, Stars disappeared and they were surrounded by complete blackness.

“This is… Eerie…” Said Patroclus, frowning.

“It’s fine. Hyperjumps always seem different.” Finn reassured him.

With that, they jolted out of hyperspace, soaring towards a small station comprised of a central tower, with two smaller ones attached to it. Lights blinked all over, and many ships flew around its sides, moving hangars, going to different parts of the station. It buzzed with life despite its size.

After being hailed and getting a hangar, the boys were up for lunch. They went up to the food court for a meal. It was bustling, creatures zooming past on hoverboards, talking on holo-phones.

“This place is busy, isn’t it?” Finn remarked, marvelling at the number of aliens and humans alike.

“Yeah, I think that a lot of planets nearby are good for hunting, so hundreds of poachers come here to see what they can get all year round,” Achilles explained. Patroclus noticed the amount of camouflage everyone was wearing, and all the rifles slung across their backs. He suddenly felt a little less safe.

They sat down at a café which served human food.

“So,” Finn said through scrambled eggs, “where are we gonna go next?”

“Huh,” Patroclus was stumped; he had no idea. “Achilles?”

Achilles wasn’t paying attention, though. He was looking around the food court, eyes darting between people, narrow and fierce.

“Achilles,” Patroclus shook his friend’s shoulder. The teen snapped out of it, looking over.

“I think that we want to leave. Now.” He said, under his breath.

“Why? Everything’s fine,” said Patroclus, frowning.

“No. We need to leave _now,_ ” hissed Achilles, serious. “Do you think that the ship has been refuelled by now?”

“Well, I think so? They’re generally quite quick with this kind of stuff, but I suppose that the bay was pretty full when we arrived,” Patroclus was rambling.

“We’re going there. _Quickly._ ” Achilles said with finality, standing up straight, pulling Finn and Achilles after him as he walked purposefully towards the exit, eyes darting around nervously.

Then it happened. A crash, smashing plates. A table had been thrown over and a huge, blue skinned man with a sizeable beard and an even more sizeable hat was grinning, blasters pulled from their holsters, goggles glinting. A skintight suit stuck to his body. _Shit, that’s active camo._ Achilles managed to think before he was jumping forward, grabbing the rifle off the back of the nearest hunter. He pointed it at the hat-man, but was stopped as all around, people pulled out guns and all manner of other weapons, pointing them at the helpless hunters. One such man was behind them, his energy-discs blurring as they span in his hands.

“Move and these will be through your throat in a second,” he grinned down at Achilles as the discs glinted in his covered hands. Achilles snuck a glance at Patroclus, who was just in front of the man. Patroclus saw him, and nodded. He kicked upwards, hitting the man in the balls. Achilles rounded his rifle on the helpless pirate and shot him quickly.

“Go!” He yelled, and all three scrambled to their feet, beginning to run to the exit. Achilles spun round, blasting one, two, three men. He touched the earpiece on his head, previously concealed, and in an instant a red line raced across his skin, like a laser. Metal-looking material slid out from his gloves, earpiece and the soles of his shoes. It raced across his body, engulfing him in armour. A helmet formed around his head, like that of a knight. It hid everything but his eyes, nose and mouth, revealed in a Y-shape. Red light coursed along all the armour in lines, encircling his arms and torso. Tiny wing shapes flicked out from behind his ears, and a crest went across his head, sharpening to a point. Achilles stood up. The room was full of pirates, all astounded by what they had just witnessed. They had managed to herd all the innocent hunters into a small group in the middle of the food court. Achilles turned on the energy-disc magnets in his gloves, and the discs snapped towards him from the dead pirate. Achilles span them as they hovered above his hands. With a flick of his wrist, he sent one spinning around the room. It hit a few pirates but around fifteen more remained. Achilles threw the second one, and it span in the air, hovering. Achilles span round, and began to sprint to the exit, his armour giving him extra speed. As he reached the doors, he turned and threw himself backwards. He pulled a blaster from the side of the armour and fired. The shot whistled through the air and hit the energy disc. It shattered and a cloud of dark gas spiralled out. Achilles fell to the floor with a thud, sliding along with the momentum of his jump. He slid through the door and stood up. Patroclus and Finn were waiting for him. Finn was wide-eyed. Patroclus wasn’t impressed.

“You could have done better,” he said. Achilles ignored his best friend.

“Let’s go!” He yelled as he began to run to the stairs, going down towards the hangar. Finn and Patroclus rushed after him, hardly keeping up.

They made it to the hangar, but there were more pirates there, who began shooting as soon as they saw Achilles. All three ducked behind the door.

“Okay, be ready to run to the ship,” said Achilles. The red coursed across his armour. He jumped out from behind the door. He kicked off the wall, spinning through the air as blasts came at him. He engaged the teleport-drive in his suit and in a trail of white light he was behind the nearest pirate, snapping his neck. In the next instant, he was pulling a gun from a pirate’s hand, shooting him, and turning to the next pirate. White light flashed and trailed around the room as Achilles killed pirate after pirate. All ten men were dead in five seconds.

“What the fuck, how did he-?”

“Just fucking run!” Yelled Patroclus as he sprinted towards the Phthia. Achilles was beckoning to them.

They ran up to the ship, making it to the door before Patroclus was being pulled backwards into a headlock against a mystery chest. He felt metal press against his throat and heard a boom with a flash of light. Achilles fell to one knee.

“Achilles! Help!” Yelled Patroclus, struggling against the hold of his captor.

“I can’t jump! That boom took out my suit!” yelled Achilles. He still raised his blaster, though, managing a shot at Patroclus’ kidnapper. He fell backwards as the energy collided with his head and Patroclus was freed, running towards the ship. Another man grabbed Patroclus and suddenly pirates were pouring into the hangar, backing up the two who had made it there quickest. Achilles cursed. He pulled a hoverboard from inside the ship and grabbed two high-power tasers. He jumped on the hoverboard and shot across the clean black floor of the hangar, going straight at Patroclus. At the last moment, he leant backwards, nearly going parallel with the floor as he pulled the foot of the man holding Patroclus out from under him. The man collapsed and Patroclus broke free of his hold, stumbling forward as Achilles quickly dispatched the fallen pirate. Achilles pulled Patroclus onto the board and they were so close to the ship. Another boom sounded, however. The hoverboard whirred to a stop and the pair plummeted, rolling across the floor as the hoverboard crashed into the ship, taking out Finn. Pirates swarmed them, restraining all three as a large, three legged humanoid walked over to them, dressed in a sharp suit. His arms were like tentacles, swirling and gently smoothing the air down as he walked past. He parted the crowd of pirates and looked down upon the three teens.

“Well, what do we have here? A very nice suit of exo-armour, I see. A skilled warrior, and his two… Associates?” He grinned, his mouth full of sharp teeth.

“Who are you?” Achilles grimaced as handcuffs were placed around his wrists, whirring with energy. They would likely be suppressing his armour. Less exciting cuffs were given to Patroclus and Finn, but theirs were just as tight.

“Take them to the cells!” Commanded the 3-legged man. He appeared to be the leader of the pirates. The three beefy lackeys who had handcuffed the boys lifted them to their feet. All three were frog-marched to “the cells”. They turned out to just be a series of hotel rooms all holding different people. Most were hunters, with several of them in every room, judging by the shouts coming from behind the doors.

The boys were hurled into their own separate “cell”.

“At least we get a queen-size bed, right?” Finn smiled a little as the pirates removed his and Patroclus’ cuffs. The three turned away and began to leave.

“Hey, why aren’t you taking off my cuffs?” Achilles protested, running towards them. The nearest pirate span on his heel and tased the irritated teen. He spasmed, jumping across the room from the shock.

“Shit! Achilles? Are you alright?” Asked Patroclus, rushing over to him. Finn felt a little rush of jealousy.

“Boss’ orders. We can’t take your cuffs off, _Iron-Man_ ,” the pirate smirked as he left the room, locking it behind him.

“Are you okay, Achilles?” Patroclus was concerned, leaning over his best friend.

“Uh, yeah… It’ll be a while before I’ll be okay to get out of these,” Achilles lifted his hands as much as he could behind his back.

“Yeah. I guess we’ll just have to wait, then.” Patroclus jumped onto the bed, leaning back. Finn joined him, putting his arm around the other boy’s shoulders, leaning into him. Achilles stiffened. Patroclus smiled, but he wasn’t entirely happy.

Finn noticed Achilles’ scowl.

“You alright man?” He questioned.

“Oh, yeah, totally…” the warrior snapped out of his daze. Patroclus narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

“So, are you gay too, or nah? I get straight vibes from you, but maybe that’s just the whole ‘warrior’ thing?” Finn was jumping right in with the personal questions.

“Well, straight? I’m not entirely sure,” Achilles slumped against the wall. _You’re gay! You’re gay gay gay gay!_ Achilles yelled at himself, mentally.

“Huh. I thought that you were gay too, y’know, with Patroclus, but apparently not,” Finn grinned, Achilles held in a yell of irritation.

“Is there a special girl then?” Asked Finn, his mouth curved in a sly smile.

“Of course not,” Achilles snapped. Finn leant back.

“Touchy,” Achilles held in his response.

-

Hours passed. Achilles took a shower. Patroclus and Finn snuggled. Achilles scowled and looked away.

Finally, a scruffy green dwarf walked in, rifle hanging over his hip.

“Come with me!” He growled. “We’ve got some lovely slavers here!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harass me on my tumblr: mrjoethejoe.tumblr.com  
> I'm feeling lazy, so thanks to people who left kudos, love you guys!  
> Have a wonderful week and thank you for reading!


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